Most Common Sports Injuries

Injuries are common in sports. Sports put a lot of stress on the body and for a variety of reasons make one more likely to get injured. Those reasons can span from abnormal biomechanics, to high impact collisions. Regardless of the cause athletes get injured, that’s just the nature of the beast. With that here is our list of some of the most common sports injuries.

Sprains

When you are playing a sport you are going all out, whether that means diving to get that pop up or crashing into the boards at full speed. It can be fairly easy to turn an ankle or jam your wrist. When those kinds of things happen it is not uncommon for you to suffer a sprain. A sprain is when a ligament, which is the collagenous fibers that connect bones to each other, tears. A sprain can be classified as a grade 1 (small tear), grade 2 (larger tear), or a grade 3 (complete tear). Depending on the grade of the sprain conservative care at The Pittsburgh Chiropractor is usually the first line of treatment. Sprains frequently occur in areas such as the ankle, knee, or wrist.

Strains

Strains and sprains can be confusing since they are similar. Strains are also abundant in sports. A strain is when a muscle or tendon, the collagenous fibers that connect muscle to bone, tears. They can be caused by a number of different things, but often are due to stretching a muscle beyond its physiologic means. A strain, just like a sprain, has three grades of tears. A grade 1 (small tear), grade 2 (larger tear), or a grade 3 (complete tear). Also similar to sprains the first line of treatment for sprains is conservative care such as what chiropractors in Fox Chapel can provide, often including rehabilitation exercises and soft tissue therapy and trigger point treatment.

Tendinitis

Tendinitis is the inflammation and irritation of a tendon. As was touched on earlier tendons are the collagenous connective tissue that connects muscles to bones. Tendinitis usually causes pain, tenderness, and occasionally swelling around joints. Athletes usually develop tendinitis from overuse injuries. The exact cause of tendinitis is not well understood, but inflammation likely plays a large part. If tendinitis is left untreated and allowed to worsen patients can develop tendinosis which is chronic degeneration of the tendon. There are many different types of tendinitis. The most common places for it to occur include knees, wrists, elbows, heels, and shoulders. Tendinitis is another condition where the first line of treatment in Fox Chapel is conservative therapeutic care. More information on tendinitis symptoms and causes is available through medical literature.

Common types of Tendinitis

• Golfers Elbow
• Pitchers Shoulder
• Jumpers Knee
• Tennis Elbow
• Achilles tendinitis

Runner’s Knee

Runner’s Knee is an overuse injury, or occasionally the result of a traumatic injury that commonly occurs in (you guessed it) runners. Technically runner’s knee is called patellofemoral pain syndrome. It is a result of irritation to the kneecap and the tendons connecting to it. Changes in biomechanics and conservative treatment are generally enough to help eliminate the pain of runner’s knee. More information about patellofemoral pain syndrome in runners explains how training errors and biomechanics can contribute to the condition.

Little League Elbow

Little League Elbow is another over use injury (there’s a trend here). This one, however occurs in adolescents. Athletes will experience pain in the elbow often when throwing. This comes about predominately from the throwing motion and occurs in those who are throwing too much. The throwing motion puts a lot of stress on the elbow and in adolescents their growth plates have not closed yet. This accumulation of stress leads to inflammation of the growth plate and if not treated and allowed to worsen can eventually lead to growth plate fractures. Little league elbow is best treated with rest and conservative therapies, such as those at The Pittsburgh Chiropractor.

CARE FOR FOX CHAPEL AND THE GREATER PITTSBURGH AREAS

At The Pittsburgh Chiropractor we see all of the above conditions as well as many more. Regardless of the sport you play our goal is to get you back to action as quickly as possible. Treatment plans may include rehabilitation exercises, manual therapy, and advanced options such as shockwave therapy for chronic tendon injuries. We have had the privilege of serving members of the Fox Chapel and greater Pittsburgh areas as well as athletes from around the globe. To see if we can help you please call 412-517-8124.

Works Cited

• Common Sports Injuries. (2016, November). Retrieved from Family Doctor: https://familydoctor.org/common-sports-injuries/?adfree=true
• Runner’s Knee. (n.d.). Retrieved from Runner’s World: https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-knee
• Staff, M. C. (2014, November 14). Tendinitis. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tendinitis/basics/definition/con-20020309